Suits of Iron
by TheGryphon
Summary: Samus Aran vs. Iron Man!! Will these two stop and see what real threat looms on the horizon? *Revised* Enjoy the changes!
1. Ch.1- Clash of Steel

Suits of Iron __

Well, the final chapter is up, and I made some revisions….

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Suits of Iron

Chapter 1- Clash of Steel

_Status Report: Mission 134_

Purpose: To hunt down and destroy the terrorist known only as Ultron.

Ultron. A name that has made many shudder recently for his crimes against humanity, and I was hired to take him out. After a tedious search, I tracked him to the deep space station, Gemini II_, only to have him escape out from under me. Ultron is not the madman we expected. He is a robot, one capable of who knows what._

Samus Aran paused after typing out that last line, pondering it. The scene raced through her mind over and over again. The metallic terrorist standing in front of her, laughing with that grating metallic laugh as her weapons did little more than scratch his body. 

__

His body was made out of a metal he called adamantium. It repelled all of my attacks, and he managed to get away, but not before setting the self-destruct mechanisms of the Gemini II. _He is nothing that I have seen before, and possesses power that seems beyond even mine. But he must be stopped, and I will stop him._

_But how?_ Samus thought to herself, running her hand through her long brown hair. She reclined back in the seat of her cockpit dressed in her flight jumpsuit. Her red and gold power armor stood behind her, a silent sentinel watching over her. Samus stared back at her armor. _Ultron took everything I threw at him and was still standing. What on earth is he?_

Shaking her head, she glanced back to her computer screen, the report sitting in front of her. She pressed a button to save the report and cleared the screen. She typed the name 'Ultron' on the screen. She stared at it for a few seconds before hitting the search command. The computer screen blinked on and off as it silently ran through it's databases and a small message reading "Link to Ultron."

Samus opened up the link, and a stream of information flooded the screen:

Subject: Ultron

A highly advanced artificial life form (or 'robot'), its creator unknown. Has a body made out of a rare metal known as adamantium. Known for its crimes against humanity, including mass butchering of humans and other organic life. Very powerful, entire nations have fallen to it. Only the exploits of the Avengers in the 20th century kept it in check.

Current Status: Unknown. Rumored to have disappeared after a conflict with the Avengers in Slorenia. 

See also: Avengers, Slorenia.

__

The Avengers? Samus questioned. _They're just myths, aren't they?_ She opened up the link, and the computer started to run a short video clip:

"This is Trisha Rogers reporting live from the country once known as Slorenia. This once bustling nation was recently reduced to rubble and ashes a few days ago when the famed Avengers led a battle against the numerous forces of the robot Ultron." 

Samus paused the clip there. _The Avengers? Slorenia? _Both thoughts stood out in her mind. _Did it really happen? Was Ultron created that long ago, with that primitive technology?_ Her hands quickly brushed over the keyboard as she ran a search on the Avengers. A multitude of links ran across the screen. The top one read "The Avenger's roster during the Ultron Wars in Slorenia." She opened the link and a the first image was that of a man standing in a blue uniform, with a pattern of red and white stripes running down the torso, a white star sitting proudly on the chest. The emblem of an "A" was on his mask. 

"Captain America," Samus whispered to herself. She went to the next page and what she saw made her eyes widen. On the screen in front of her stood a person in red and gold armor not too unlike her own. The name Iron Man spread out on top of the picture. "His armor was made by… Stark Enterprises!?" She looked back towards her own armor, surprised to find out that Iron Man's armor was made by the same company as her own armor. _Could Stark have made Ultron as well?_ She ran through a couple more searches and found something that made her eyes widen and her breath catch. The one line in front of her said it all:"Ultron was rumored to be a creation of one of the Avengers, though the exact one is unknown." _Stark. _She thought. _If he created that monster, than he can help me destroy him as well. _

** *

"Gryphon Labs, how may we be of service?" A voice crackled over the computer console. 

"It's me, Gyllin," Samus said bluntly. No response was given. She shifted uncomfortably in her power armor as she waited for the doors in front of her to be open. In the dense trees surrounding the plain gray building in front of her, some birds chirped. The metal doors slid open silently, and a short man with snow-white hair and leaning on a wooden cane topped with a gryphon head stood there.

"Samus," he said in a raspy voice. "You decided to pay me a visit, huh?"

"Not a social one Gyllin," Samus said as she walked passed him and into the labs. She towered over him, especially when fully armored. "I need your help."

"With what?" Gyllin asked as the doors shut behind him. 

"I need a way to travel back through time," she said bluntly. 

"Planning a real vacation getaway are we?" He asked with a grunt.

"Funny, Gyllin," Samus said. "I need to bring back someone from 20th century Earth. He is crucial to my current mission."

"Really? Who?"

"Tony Stark."

"Stark!?" He's a genius! His prototype power armor, the Iron Man armor, was a brilliant masterpiece. He made your armor if I'm not mistaken." 

"He did. He also created Ultron."

"Ultron's a robot!" Gyllin exclaimed. 

"I should know, I had a run in with him on the _Gemini II_ a few days ago, and all I could do was scratch him, if that."

"Didn't the _Gemini II_ blow up the other day?" 

Samus just glared at him from behind her armor. 

"You seem to have that affect on places," Gyllin said.

"Can you help me or not, Gyllin?" She asked in a hard tone.

"Of course, I am the most brilliant scientists around," Gyllin said with a childish smile. Samus sighed and shook her head. "Follow me, please." 

The short old man led Samus through some brightly-lit corridors to a very cluttered back laboratory. Papers lay strewn throughout the lab, cluttering up the floor, what Samus assumed might have been a desk at one point. Food from who knows how long ago sat in containers on the desk. Small contraptions and bits of metal towered over her in huge piles in the room.

"Don't you ever think about cleaning this place up?" Samus asked.

"And ruin my organizational pattern. Ha! Not on your life, Samus." Gyllin said. Samus watched him as he shuffled through papers and myriad of small devices and knickknacks, tossing many over his shoulder carelessly. 

"Here we are," he said at last, emerging from a pile of devices. In his hand was a small rectangular object made of solid black metal. "My very own time travel device, a brilliant piece of beauty and technology. Its dimensions are 1:4:9, very stylish in black, don't you agree?"

"Does it work?" Samus asked.

"That…. I am unsure of. It's never really been tested."

"Wonderful, but I am left with little choice. How does it work?" 

"Where's your ship? I'll show you," Gyllin said with the same childish smile. 

***

Samus stood outside for what seemed like hours, listening to the clanging of metal and occasional swearing coming from Gyllin inside. The birds continued their cacophony of sound. 

"It's done," Gyllin said emerging from the top hatch. His face and hair were layered with grease. "I'll show you how it works."

Samus walked up to the ship, and entered it through the top hatch. Gyllin stood by the control console. Samus noticed the small rectangular black box attached next to it. 

"It's very simple," Gyllin started. "All you do is enter the date here," he brushed his hand over a clock and number pad. "And press this button here," he pointed to a red button next to the number pad. "And theoretically, you should travel through time. And if you do bring back Mr. Stark, please bring him by for a visit, will you?" 

"Thank you, Gyllin," Samus said. "I owe you."

"Don't worry about it. We'll discuss the price when you get paid," he flashed a bright smile across his face. 

"Right," Samus said dryly. 

"Well, I have a busy schedule ahead of me, so I will wish you luck Samus Aran!"

"I'll probably need it right," she said with a smile.

"That would be a good bet," Gyllin said as he climbed out of the hatch.

***

_The stars look peaceful, tranquil_ Samus thought staring out into space from her view screen. _Ultron is out there somewhere, waiting._ Her hand brushed passed the small rectangular box of the time travel device. Her breath held for a second as she touched it. 

"Here goes nothing," she said in a hushed whisper as she entered the destination, the year 2001. She pressed the red button and again held her breath. Nothing happened. Her tense body relaxed a bit and she looked at the box, perplexed. _Work damn you!_

Then as if in response to her reaction, the ship lurched forward a bit, accelerating into the reaches of space. The stars turned from spheres to lines, and then meshed into a large network of light upon the fabric of space. The pitch darkness faded to a bright white light, the force of the ship pressing Samus against the back of her seat. The ship rattled and shook. Samus gripped onto her seat, fear and nervousness starting to well up inside of her.

Then as sudden as it began, silence and calm. The ship steadied out, going along at a smooth clip. The Samus looked out of the view screen, and the white light was now a myriad of colors, all meshing together, folding, moving as though alive. Patterns formed and dispersed all around her. 

"It's beautiful," Samus said in a hushed voice. The colors and patterns faded, after what seemed to be an eternity, into the darkness of space. Samus could only stare at the blue and green sphere in front of her. "Earth," she said. "But what year?" She looked around. "No stations, no orbital defense platforms, no _ships_," she smiled at this last fact. "Gyllin, you're a genius." She laughed to herself and then made her way quickly towards Earth.

** * 

"Thank you, Mr. Summers, for your interesting presentation," Tony Stark fumbled for the right word as he stared at the man in a wrinkled suit and disheveled blonde hair in front of him. "It was quite informative, I will have my people contact you later to discuss matters further."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Summers said as he hastily gathered up his papers and a laptop computer. "I look forward to hearing from you." With that, the man walked rather loudly out of Stark's spacious office. 

_They get worse all the time_ Stark thought to himself with a sigh from behind his large wooden desk. He stroked his short black beard thoughtfully as he slumped into his high backed chair. _But business is business, and with all the negative publicity of late, I need all the business I can get._ A noise snapped Stark out of his thoughts. A knock at the door. 

"It's open," Stark said. In walked in a young, attractive woman with short red hair and a green dress. Her brown eyes looked forward to Stark, and she looked to him a bit preoccupied. 

"Pepper," Tony said. "You look worried."

"Well, something has come up," Pepper started.

"What, someone else trying to ruin my name?" Stark said dryly, reclining a bit back in his chair. 

"Not that I can tell. They just barged in demanding to see you, and then they got pretty forceful about it," she said. Stark just looked at her, wrinkling his brow. "And they are wearing armor that could be Iron Man's cousin."

"What!?" Stark exclaimed as he stood up. "Where are they?"

"Out by some of the industrial buildings," Pepper said as she moved closer to him. 

"I think I'll let Iron Man deal with him," Stark said as he pushed a button under his desk. Wooden panels in the wall slid by, revealing the signature red and gold armor of the Avenger. He walked up to it, Pepper following close behind. "Inform the security guards not to engage this person." 

"Will you be okay?" She asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"Of course," Stark added with a wry grin. "And besides, how bad could this assailant be?" 

** *

A blast of energy erupted from below the guards' feet as the group of them went flying into the air, each landing with a solid thud. Other guards could be heard shouting from around the industrial complex. A few adventurous ones fired shots off.

Samus laughed to herself as the bullets bounced harmlessly off of her armor. She fired another blast of her arm cannon towards the shots, the beam hitting a guard square in the chest. She scanned the area. Just large industrial buildings with the logo Stark Enterprises on them, and the silence. Silence. 

"Blast it Stark, where are you?" the bounty hunter hissed. A few clouds in the sky above her drifted wearily. The sky went dark for a moment as if hid behind one of the lazy, puffy clouds. 

She looked up, and as if in answer to her question, a red and gold shape flew overhead. _So you decided to send your bodyguard Iron Man after me huh? _She smiled wolfishly to herself. _I needed a warm up._

Samus aimed her gun arm up towards Iron Man and fired. Iron Man quickly dodged out of the way, the beams knicking the armor. _Whoa there!_ Iron Man thought to himself _Guess I've been spotted._ He looked down and saw Samus sitting there. Her red and gold armor glistened in the sunlight. _Pepper was right, that armor looks very similar in design to one of my own…_ The thought was unfinished as he dodged another volley of beams. _This one's just as tough. Well Stark, you were just complaining that your day was getting boring._

Iron Man maneuvered himself to where he dove towards Samus, firing the repulser beams in his gauntlets. Samus quickly dodged the volley with backwards summersaults and returned fire, the shots hit Iron Man square in the chest, knocking him back a bit. The armored Avenger recovered with an aerial roll, and fired off a repulser blast that his Samus square in the gun arm. She stood her ground, unfazed by the shot. 

_You want to play, let's play_ she thought as she switched to her plasma beam, and quickly fired off a shot. Iron Man flew out of the way, the beam passing within a hair of his helmet. 

_That was close!_ He flew towards Samus, and before she could get a shot off, he hit her with a flying tackle, both armored figures flying backwards into one of the buildings with a loud crash of stone and metal. Samus landed on her back, grunting. Iron Man quickly got up, and pointed his gauntlet blasters at the bounty hunter.

"Had enough yet?" He said calmly. Samus looked at him, still on the ground.

"From you? I don't think so." She gave him a quick kick to the mid section, knocking him back a bit. She leveled her gun arm at him and fired. Iron Man flew upwards out of the way, the shot hitting a tanker behind him that blew in a brilliant explosion of orange flames. Iron Man flew through the explosion, the heat felt even through his armor, smoke filling his vision. He switched his optical sensors and the smoke became clear as day as he flew higher into the calm cerulean sky.

Samus ran out, and Iron Man was nowhere to be seen. _Blast it, where is he?_ Her hand brushed a switch on her helmet, and a small viewscreen appeared in the corner of the visor. The screen was blank. _He couldn't have disappeared from my radar, could he?_

She moved forward cautiously, through the smoke and flames, scanning the surrounding area when she was knocked forward by a blast of energy. 

"Surprise," Iron Man said as he flew over her, letting loose with the beams. 

"You're finished Iron Man, no more games," Samus growled, switching over to missiles. The bounty hunter ran away from the tanker as another explosion rocked behind her. Samus walked as though she never noticed it. 

"Ooohh… Is that a threat?"

Samus responded with a trio of missiles. Iron Man dodged two of them, but the third hit him soundly on the chest. He grunted as he flew backwards and landed on the ground. _That's going to hurt in the morning_ he winced. A warning light blinked on his armor. _Great, my stealth mode is knocked out._

He got back on his feet, kicked in his boot jets and flew forward to Samus, dodging a volley of missiles. He reached down and grabbed her by the shoulders. 

She struggled as he carried her higher. 

"Do you want to talk now?" Iron Man asked.

"Not on your life Iron Man," Samus bit out.

"I'm afraid that I'm at a disadvantage here, you know who I am, but I don't think I've seen you around before."

"That is none of your business," Samus said as she curled up in a ball in Iron Man's grasp. _What the?_ He thought as she fell from his grip, and plowed through the roof of a building still rolled up in the ball. He watched her as she landed gracefully on in a crouch. _They're as agile as a cat!_

Samus got up from her crouch, and looked up. She fired out a volley of plasma shots. Iron Man readily dodged them, returning fire. Samus jumped out of the way. 

"He's too quick," Samus growled. Then a smile curled on her lips. She switched to her ice beam. She ran out of the building, leaving a gaping hole within the wall of the building. Iron Man ran into her full on, and she managed a back flip landing on her feet. She elbowed him in the face plate of the helmet. Iron Man staggered back a bit at flew into the air, blasting away at her. A few stray beams hit her armor, she winced, her armor was starting to show damage. 

She looked at Iron Man as he continued to fly towards her, firing, and she waited for the right chance, and smiled when she got it. The shot flew forward and hit the armored warrior in the legs, freezing them in a block of ice. He hit the ground with a thud. Samus walked over to him, gun arm pointed at his head. 

"Do you wish to continue?"

"Who are you?" Iron Man asked.

"Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter. Where is your boss, Stark?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I need to ask him some questions and I didn't feel like making an appointment."

"He's out of town on business," Iron Man said, steel in his voice. _What is he doing here? _"Why did you want to see him?"

"It deals with a terrorist of your time, a good friend of yours. His name is Ultron."

"Ultron!?" Iron Man asked, surprise obvious in his voice. The rest of the sentence then dawned on him. "Your time?"

"I am from the future. Ultron has recently been terrorizing our colonies."

"Nice to see ole tin butt makes it into the future," Iron Man said sarcastically to himself. "But why Stark?" He asked Samus.

"I figured that he could help me to destroy Ultron since he most likely created him."

_Created him? _Stark thought. _He must be off his rocker._ _But if Ultron did survive Slorenia… _

"I can be of more help to you than my employer since I have actually fought Ultron many times before. I'll go with you," Iron Man said.

"You?" Samus asked him confused.

"I don't like letting loose ends such as Ultron sitting around." 

Samus took her gun arm off of him. "How do I know that I can trust you?"

"I can ask the same question of you."

"Point," Samus said dryly. "Very well, I'll take you to my ship, but as such, you will do as I say. Got it?" Iron Man just nodded.

"Uh, one thing…" Iron Man gestured to the ice covering his legs.

"Right," Samus said as she went to melting the ice with her plasma beam. Iron Man got up and flexed his legs a bit. 

"Much better. Where is this ship of yours?"

"This way," Samus motioned with a toss of her head. She walked off, Iron Man following close behind her. _Well, Stark, what have you gotten yourself into now…._

That is it for this chapter of Suits of Iron! Stay tuned for Chapter 2! (hopefully soon!)


	2. Ch.2- Brave New World

Suits of Iron ****

Suits of Iron

Chapter 2 – Brave New World

_Darkness. The ever bearer of life and of death. It existed before life, and will exist long after death. It is what fuels existence. The energy I crave to sustain me, where is it?_

"I have lost track of it," _the mechanical voice says. Find it. _

"It will be found, as long as you keep your part of the bargain." _My children will be yours if the energy of the one in the suit of iron is given to me._

"Good."

** *

_Anthony Stark, famed industrialist, entrepreneur, inventor, superhero. Soon to be timetraveler. Why am I following this person, called Samus Aran who claims to be from the future? He says that he needs to stop Ultron and that he needed my help, as Tony Stark, not Iron Man. Ultron must be stopped, but why go fight in a time where it won't matter to me? I guess is the little voice inside of me that can't let me do it. What am I getting myself into here?_

"Is that your ship?" Iron Man asked, indicating the sleek gold ship sitting in front of them. Its lines were soft, elegant. It didn't look like any spaceship that Iron Man had seen before. _Way different from the Avengers' quinjets, that's for sure._ He thought.

Samus only nodded at his comment and continued to walk towards the ship. A hatch on top of the ship opened, and Samus leaped onto the top of the ship.

"Get in," Samus said. Iron Man nodded and kicked his boot jets in to get to the top, and he entered the hatch behind the armored bounty hunter. 

"Cozy," Iron Man said as he entered the cramped cockpit of the ship. Samus pressed a button, and the consoles lit up in a dull light. Iron Man shifted uncomfortably while Samus was pressing buttons, and activating switches. 

"There's a seat over there," Samus offered pointing towards a seat near the back of the cockpit. Iron Man moved to the seat wordlessly and sat down. 

"So, this thing travels through time, huh?" Iron Man asked, looking around and admiringthe technology surrounding him. 

"Not on its own," Samus said. "This thing is what does it," Samus said, entering the date of her own time in the smooth rectangular black box. "Strap yourself in tight, Iron Man, you're in for a bumpy ride." Samus sat down in her seat, Iron Man strapping himself into his with shoulder straps. 

Samus kicked in the ship's jets, and it lifted off with a lurch that flung Iron Man forward in his straps. Samus flew quickly through the sky, doing small tricks with the ship among the calm, puffy clouds. _He's nuts_ Iron Man thought as Samus did a loop with the ship, the light blue sky spiraling in the viewscreen. She looked back towards Iron Man.

"Sorry," she said, her smile hidden under her helmet. "Got a little carried away there."

"A little?" 

Samus didn't respond and flew the ship gently into the black reaches of space, the stars little pinpricks against the pitch backdrop. 

"Here we go," Samus said as she pushed the red button on the time box. The ship lurched forward suddenly and picked up speed. Iron Man was pressed into his seat. The stars meshed into lines of light, and then folded themselves into a loose fabric. The ship rocked around heavily. 

"Does it usually do this?" Iron Man asked.

"It did the last time I did it. Don't worry I got to your time, didn't I?"

"Who said I was worrying," Iron Man responded dryly. Samus let out a short laugh. He looked out the viewport and his eyes went wide. 

_It's beautiful_ he thought as he stared out at the intricate meshwork of light and color that lay before him, the patterns weaving and unweaving themselves before his eyes. The colorful backdrop faded back to the starry expanse of space. 

"We're here," Samus said. 

"Amazing," Iron Man said as he quickly got out of his seat and stood next to Samus. He looked outside and saw a hulking metal form moving out there. It was a long, rectangular ship, large propulsion jets moving it ploddingly along. A small beeping sound from one of the consoles got the attention of both armored figures. 

"It's the _Thunderhawk,_ a commercial freighter headed to Earth," Samus said, reading the info off of the screen. She replied by typing a message stating their purpose, and then veered off, away from the large freighter. Iron Man looked towards Samus.

"As long as we're working together, maybe we should get to know each other a bit better," Iron Man said. 

"Like how?" Samus said, turning towards him. 

"I don't know," Iron Man said. "Like where you got that armor from, it's incredible."

"It should be," Samus said. "Your employer, Stark made it."

_I MADE that!_ Iron Man thought to himself. The scenes of the battle come to him, her armor dodging his attacks, and the variety of weapons that the armor held. His defeat at the hands of the remarkable piece of technology. _If I can eventually make something like that, I guess my life won't end out so bad afterall._

"Stark made it?" Iron Man replied after gathering himself.

"Well, not him personally, but his company. Stark Enterprises is still operating in this time, though it's obviously run by one of Tony Stark's descendants by now," Samus said.

_Okay, I don't make that armor, but it's nice to know my father's company will live on through everything_. 

"How about you," Samus began. "How did you become Stark's bodyguard?" 

"It's a long story," Iron Man began. 

"Really?" Samus asked. "We have some time." She moved her hands to the back of her helmet and undid some of the latches in the back. She took off the helmet, and, untying the hairband that held her long, brown hair in place under the helmet. She shook her head, and the hair cascaded down the back of the armor. The bounty hunter looked at Iron Man with her brown eyes. "Plenty of time."

"You're a woman!?" Iron Man exclaimed. 

"Have a problem with that," Samus said with a wry grin.

"No, just wasn't expecting it was all," Iron Man said. _She's beautiful, though. _He thought. 

"Most men don't," she replied with a smirk. "Anyway, back to how you became Stark's bodyguard."

"Shouldn't we be tracking down Ultron?" Iron Man asked. 

"It'll take me awhile to track him," she said, looking a bit disappointed. "He's not easy to track down, I've had to react to him, only to get there too late," she growled. "The one time I did manage to track him down to the _Gemini II_, I had to go through a long channel of his lackeys to find him. I can find him, it'll just take time," she added with a confident smile.

"I have an easier way," Iron Man said. 

"How?" Samus asked.

"From my previous encounters with Ultron, we managed to obtain data on Ultron's brain patterns. I have them stored in the computer in my armor, and all we need to do is imprint these into your ship's computers, and voila, we have an Ultron tracker. Assuming, of course, that he still has the same patterns"

"Makes sense since Stark created him as well as your armor that you would have something like that on you."

"Actually, Stark didn't create him," Iron Man said. 

"What! Who did?" Samus' eyes went wide.

"Henry Pym actually, another Avenger. It was an experiment in artificial life that went wrong. It isn't something that we like to let out very much."

"Understood. How long will that tracker of yours take?"

"A few minutes," Iron Man said, and opened up a panel in his left arm, connected a cable from the ship's computer to his armor, pressed a few buttons and within minutes, a holographic map appeared on the console. A red square surrounded a point on the map. Iron Man disconnected the cable from the computer. 

"I do believe Ultron is there," Iron Man said.

"Remarkable," Samus said. "That old armor of yours has more tricks than I thought." 

"Thanks," Iron Man said dryly. 

Samus looked at the holographic map.

"The _Pieces III _space station," Samus said, pointing to the square. "That's where Ultron is."

"Well, then, shall we pay our friend a visit?" Iron Man asked.

"Of course," Samus said. 

** *

The ship landed softly on the quiet landing pad of the deep space station, _Pieces III_. Iron Man and Samus Aran emerged from the top of the ship and walked in silence up to the twin metal doors that led into the station. Iron Man stood in a ready position while Samus walked up to the door to open it. It opened before she even touched the door. 

"Damn!" Samus swore. 

"What is it?" Iron Man asked.

"Last time this happened, Ultron was waiting for me," she growled. 

"You think he's setting a trap for us then?" Iron Man asked. Samus just nodded. "Looks like Ultron hasn't changed his tactics much. The signal is still inside, so ladies first."

"Thanks," Samus said dryly as she walked into the doors, gun arm panning the walls. Iron Man followed close behind her, the door closing silently behind them. A rush of air flowed into the room, and the second door in front of them opened. 

"Where's the signal Iron Man?" Samus asked, looking around in the surprisingly brightly lit corridors. 

"As far as I can tell, towards the center of the station." Iron Man looked at his radar confused. "That's odd," he said.

"What?"

"I'm picking up strong life signs coming from not too far from here."

"Any clue what they are?"

"None."

"Ignore them, then and let's head to Ultron. We'll deal with them if they get in our way."

"They could be injured civilians, Samus," Iron Man said. 

"Ultron first," Samus said. "That way we can safely see to the injured."

"Okay," Iron Man said with a hint of disapproval in his voice. Samus walked forward, with Iron Man by her side, both training eyes and weapons all around them. The two walked forward, their footsteps echoing down the silent corridors. The light banishing all the shadows save for the one created by the silence.

"What the..?" Iron Man asked breaking the eerie silence. A man lay crumpled on the floor ahead of them. He was wearing civilian clothes, and looked unscathed.

"He looks dead," Samus said in a calm tone.

"Yeah, but look at his eyes." 

Samus looked at the man's eyes. They were white, no pupils, and no life. Samus hissed. 

"That's not good," she muttered under her breath. A door leading to a large room opened next to them on its own. The room was dark and foreboding, like the bowels of space itself. Both Samus and Iron Man trained their weapons in the direction of the door. "I don't like this," Samus said, her voice wavering only slightly.

"Neither do I," Iron Man said. The sound of metallic objects falling on the floor could be heard from inside large room. A strangled voice muttered the words "help me" from the inside. "Come on!" Iron Man said as he ran into the room, Samus following close behind. 

Iron Man saw a man standing up, a table next to him was knocked down in the darkness, and canisters lay on the floor, their contents spilled over the metallic surface. 

"Are you all right?" Iron Man asked the man as he walked up to him.

"Help me," he said in a strangled tone. Iron Man looked down at the man's torso, and a large gaping would lay in his gut, crimson blood oozing out from it. Iron Man stood there, Samus looking over his shoulder. "Leave, now," the man said. "Ultron."

"Ultron?" Iron Man said. "Here?" 

Samus swore and looked frantically around her in the darkness.

"He's dead," Iron Man said as he watched the man fall to the floor. "I don't think Ultron caused that wound." Iron Man looked behind him; his eyes and Samus' locked on the same spot. A pair of narrow red eyes appeared in the dark, a long hiss slithering its way from the shadows. Samus watched it intently.

"Get down!" Samus yelled as she hit the floor. The eyes moved forward, and Iron Man saw what they belonged to. A large, reptilian shape flew over head, a long head with a beak. Large, sinuous wings keeping it afloat in the high ceiling. A large tail trailed behind it, the stinger on the tip gleamed with blood. The beast flexed its long claws, and let out a screech. 

Iron Man saw another shape emerge from the darkness. Another reptilian figure, this one larger than the first, lumbering in through a large opening. Armored scales ran down the length of its body, and horns topped its head. A mouth filled with jagged teeth let out a snarl. A spine shot out from its belly and hit Iron Man in the shoulder. He was knocked to the ground with a thud. 

He looked up, and some of the dim lighting kicked in. The shape above him was colored crimson in the light, and the one that knocked him down was a dull green with a yellow under-belly. 

"Iron Man, take the one in the air, I'll take this one!" Samus yelled. 

"Right," Iron Man said, kicking in his boot jets. 

"Look, Samus brought a friend," the flying shape said in a hissing voice. "Let's see how tough you are."

"Sure thing, ugly," Iron Man said as he ran full on into the flying shape, his fist landing on the thing's head. A claw from the beast grasped at Iron Man's armor, penetrating it slightly at the shoulder. A shot of plasma energy hit it across the head, and the creature let got of Iron Man.

"All right, Ridley," Samus started. "I don't know why you and your lackey Kraid are here, but you won't be leaving alive. Not this time!"

"Ridley huh?" Iron Man said as he blasted the flying beast while it was distracted. Ridley flew back and looked at him.

"Samus-lite wants to play, does it?" Ridley hissed. He breathed a long stream of fire towards Iron Man, which he quickly dodged. 

"The name's Iron Man bulb head," he said as he fired a repulser blast at Ridley's left wing. The beast let out a cry and hit the ground. Iron Man looked to how Samus was doing. 

The beast known as Kraid was taking about every missile Samus had, and then some. It let out a loud roar, and fired out more of the spines that had hit Iron Man earlier. Samus jumped out of their way, and pegged the land-locked reptile in the head; it flinched visibly and moved back. 

A pull tugging at Iron Man's foot brought him back to his own situation made him look down. Ridley was there, holding onto his ankle with a clawed hand. The beast was barely keeping in flight with his wounded wing. 

"Let's see what kind of goodies are in this can, eh Kraid?" A loud roar pierced Iron Man's ears as he saw Kraid barrel into Samus, knocking her down. Ridley slashed at Iron Man with his other claw, but Iron Man kicked it out of the way and kicked his boot jets into full, forcing Ridley back to the ground with a hiss. Iron Man flew towards the ceiling of the room, and saw Samus trying to get up in front of the hulking Kraid.

"Don't think so," Iron Man said as he let loose towards Kraid with everything he had. Kraid moved back, flinching. Samus got up in a ball and unrolled herself in front of Kraid, letting loose with a volley of five missiles. They hit him square in the chest. The large reptile hit some supports next to him, the twisting metal collapsing on top of Samus. 

"Samus!" Iron Man flew towards her and began to remove scrapped metal from on top of her. 

"I'll be fine!" she snapped. "Go after Kraid!"

"I think we'll have to cut our visit short, Samus," Ridley said in that hissing voice of his. "Bye, bye." He flew towards where Kraid went, brining more debris on top of the armored pair. Iron Man looked up, and saw patches of space through the holes in the roof as air was starting to be sucked out of the room. Iron Man and Samus managed to get the supports off of them and Samus rushed to the nearest door. It was locked.

"Damn it!" she swore. "The station security systems must have already kicked in. We're stuck. Damn you Kraid! Damn you Ridley!"

"I think I can get us out of this," Iron Man said over Samus's swearing and the rush of the air exiting the room. 

"How?"

"Simple," Iron Man said strolling towards a door control panel. He thrust a guantleted fist in and started shifting his hand in the mess of wires. _Where is the wire I'm looking for? Aha! _ He ripped one wire in two and the door in front of them opened. "Go!" Samus nodded and ran through the door, Iron Man following close behind. He closed the door behind them.

"Nice work," Samus said. "How did you manage that?"

"Trade secret," Iron Man said with a laugh. "So you know those two?"

"Ridley and Kraid? Yeah, they've been be thorns in my side for years now," Samus said. "Do you still have Ultron's signal?"

"Yes, and surprisingly, it's at the end of this corridor," Iron Man said, apprehensively. Samus immediately pointed her gun arm forward. 

"I only have five missiles left," Samus said dryly. "I'm going to try my ice beam this time."

"That seemed to work on me, so why not?" Iron Man said sarcastically. 

The two walked the rest of the way in silence towards the double doors at the end of the hallway. A symbol of two fish, the _Pieces III_ logo was barely visible in the corridor's dim lighting. Iron Man led the way to the door, and put his hand forward, the door opening before his hand touched it. He stepped back. Samus tensed up. 

In the darkness, a man lay in front of them. He had the same lifeless white eyes as the man from the beginning of the station. Iron Man and Samus walked in silence, their footsteps echoing loudly. 

"You two make an interesting couple," a metallic voice rang through the room as Samus and Iron Man passed through the door. The door shut tightly behind them with a hiss. A small beam of light was illuminating down from the ceiling in front of them. 

"Ultron," Iron Man said. "Nice to know that they haven't recycled your metal ass this far in the future," he said sarcastically.

"Iron Man," Ultron said stepping out of the shadows, and into the light. His adamantium body glistening. He looked at Iron Man with his penetrating red eyes. "I did not expect to find one of my oldest rivals with my newest. This is a surprise indeed, albeit not a pleasant one." 

"One more step and your metal ass is toast!" Samus said. 

"Come on, Miss Aran, are we going back to that again?" 

"Step back, tin can," Iron Man said stepping forward. Ultron just laughed.

"Iron Man, all the Avengers put together can't beat me, what makes you think that you and your friend here can?"

"Just go on thinking that Ultron," Iron Man said as he kicked in his boot jets and tackled Ultron to the ground. The room illuminated for a split second as Ultron hit Iron Man with an energy bolt from his wrist cannon. Iron Man flew back a bit, landing on his feet. He fired all of his batteries at Ultron, who just laughed as they bounced off of his adamantium armor harmlessly. 

"You see, Iron Man, I have made some modifications to myself while you were, let's see…. Dead!" Ultron laughed to himself. "But I don't wish to waste my time with you now, I have a special surprise for the two of you."

"What?" Samus asked, her gun trained on Ultron. Ultron stepped back, into a doorway in the darkness.

"This," the sound of shattered glass could be heard and a sound of something alive moving around. The lights came on as the door closed in front of Ultron, shielding him from view. Samus' eyes widened, and Iron Man looked towards the pile of shattered glass from the door.

Floating in front of it was something that looked like a giant jellyfish, just without the tentacles. The large transparent bulb had what looked like teeth hanging below it, and red and green, what Iron Man deciphered to be organs, could be seen within the bulb. The thing emitted a sound and flew towards Iron Man. 

It attached itself to his armor as he tried to blast it. He felt it grab onto him, and let out a scream as he crumpled to the ground, swatting at the thing on his head. His armor's power supply was draining, and he felt weak and dizzy. Nausea swept over him, but as quickly as it came, it was gone. The thing hung over him, frozen from Samus' ice beam. He saw her switching her gun arm's function. He moved back, staring at the frozen thing in front of him. Samus launched her five remaining missiles at it, all five hitting, and the creature shattered to bits. 

Iron Man got up weakly, and saw Samus sink to her knees, her head stooped. He walked over to her. 

"Samus?"

"No, no, it can't be. I destroyed them all," was all she said. She took off her helmet, and rested her head in her armored hands. "I destroyed them all….:

Here ends chapter 2 of Suits of Iron! Chapter 3 should hopefully be up soon!


	3. Ch. 3- Something Evil Comes This Way

Suits of Iron ****

Suits of Iron

Chapter 3 – Something Evil Comes This Way

_I hunger, I crave. Where is the energy that I crave? I can feel it, slightly, but where? You have failed to get it for me._

"Just a delay," _the metal voice says_. "I will get you the energy you crave."

_Ridley and Kraid, what of them?_

"They failed to trap our quarry. But I have a way to obtain what we both want." _Go on._

"It will make quite an impact,"_ the metallic voice laughs. I find this humorous. I can feel the energy close at hand._

** *

The walls. The cold, metal, unforgiving walls surround me. What is going on here? The walls of the Pisces III_ warp themselves around me in the faint light; even the armor feels constricting. I can still hear its screeching even now. Damn it Ultron! What were you thinking!?_

"Samus?" The now familiar voice of Iron Man came from behind her, startling her slightly. She could just stare forward.

"No, no, it can't be. I destroyed them all." She took off her helmet. "I destroyed them all…." She ran her fingers through her long brown hair. 

"What was that?" Iron Man asked her. She turned around, meeting with Iron Man's mask, wondering what the face behind the mask looked like. 

"A Metroid," Samus said stiffly. "A lifeform capable of draining energy from other living beings. But I thought I had destroyed them all, back on Planet Zebes." A loud siren and a flash of red light broke Samus' train of thought. 

"Five minutes to self destruct," a mechanical voice said. 

"That's not good," Iron Man said dryly. Samus still sat on her knees, staring where the metroid had fallen. Where it had tried to drain Iron Man's energy before she blasted it. "Samus?" She barely heard him. _Metroids alive, and in Ultron's hands. What does he think he is doing? _

"Four minutes to self destruct," the voice said again.

"Samus! We must go!" Iron Man said, running towards the nearest door. Samus shook herself free from her thoughts and stood up quickly, putting on her helmet. She ran up next to Iron Man.

"Sorry, I was somewhere else," Samus said. 

"Understandable," Iron Man said, pressing buttons on the door's control panels. He swore under his breath. "Ultron's locked the doors."

"That's new," Samus said. "I'd blast it, but I'm out of missiles."

"I think I can override the computer," Iron Man said as he began pressing keys rapidly. Samus stood there, sweating slightly, as she watched Iron Man work over the console. After what seemed to be an eternity, the door opened.

"Bingo," Iron Man said.

"Three minutes to self destruct."

"Great, let's go!" Samus said as she ran through the door. She kicked in her speed booster; Iron Man kicking in his boot jets right behind her. The two sped through the corridors of the _Pisces III_ space station until they reached the airlock. Iron Man and Samus blasted through in a brilliant array of blaster fire, the emptiness of space engulfing them. The two made it to Samus' ship, and quickly got in.

Samus sat down in her seat and quickly punched in the autopilot. The ship lurched up, explosions starting to silently rip the station below them to pieces. Fire enveloped the ship; alerts went off within the hull, bathing the interior in a reddish glow. Samus gripped the controls tighter and pushed the ship harder through the explosions, the ship rocking violently as shards of scrap metal flew around the ship. She relaxed her grip when the pitch backdrop of space appeared again in the view screen. The ship floated silently in black emptiness.

"That was close," Iron Man breathed. "You okay?"

"Yes," Samus said, catching her own breath. "I've seen worse." She looked back towards Iron Man. "Once again, your technical ability saved us."

"A compliment? Thanks," Iron Man said. 

"You know more than you first let on. Skills like yours can probably even rival your employer's." Samus said, taking off her helmet. 

Iron Man sat there, staring at her from behind his helmet. _She's from the future, who is she going to tell that would care a hill of beans who Iron Man really was. Well, Stark, here we go._

"I think I have something you should know," Iron Man said. 

"Yeah?" Samus arched an eyebrow. 

Iron Man lifted his gauntleted hands towards his helmet, and took it off slowly. Samus' eyes went wide. She looked at the black haired man in front of her. His short black hair and trimmed beard, his black eyes. 

"Tony Stark," Samus said with a wry grin. _He's not that bad looking._ "Why didn't you tell me before that Iron Man and Tony Stark were one and the same. That could have saved us a lot of trouble," Samus said with a frosty tone.

"I try not to make a habit of revealing my identity to strangers," Stark said. "All part of the super-hero business. Too many people would want to pay Stark a house call for what Iron Man did to them."

"Villains such as Ultron, huh?" Samus said. Iron Man just nodded. "Makes sense. Not sure if I'd want his tin can hounding me all the time myself." 

"Anyway," Stark continued, "About that thing back on the station,"

"Metroid," Samus interrupted.

"Right," Iron Man said dryly. He peered at Samus with his black eyes. She just stared back, crossing her arms. "How did you find out about them?" Samus uncrossed her arms, and for a moment, just stared at the man sitting in front of her. She took a long breath before she spoke.

"It's a long story, but it seems that we have time," she said in a level voice. "It was only six years ago when it all began. For centuries, the Galactic Federation had given us the peace that we were promised. Trade lines were relatively safe, and the people were happy, despite the few space pirates that did prey upon the occasional freighter. But this peace was disrupted by a startling discovery.

"On a survey of a recently discovered planet know only as SR388, a Galactic Federation science team discovered a new lifeform, an airborne lifeform that could suck the energy out of any living host."

"The Metroids," Iron Man said. Samus nodded.

"The Federation wanted to examine them further, but were raided on the way back by space pirates from the planet Zebes, our friends Ridley and Kraid back there. They stole the Metroid specimen and took it back to Zebes. It was then that their leader, the Mother Brain first bonded with the Metroids and worked to create an army of them, and I was hired to take them out. That is when I first encountered the things." Thoughts of them clinging to their armor for the first time, of them draining her energy floated through her head. She shuddered at the thought. 

"I carried out the mission, quite well I might add," Samus flashed Iron Man a cocky grin, "and the Federation saw how dangerous the Metroids were. They sent in a group of marines back to SR388, only to never hear from them again. Since I did such a bang up job on Zebes, literally, I was hired again to exterminate every Metroid from the planet.

"When I got to SR388, however, I had a rude shock awaiting me. The Metroids here were more advanced than the ones I saw earlier, but they died just the same. It just made my job their slightly harder. Slightly," she added with the same grin as before. "The Queen Metroid was something else. It was huge, almost reptilian, the source of so much suffering. When I had killed it, I thought that was the end of it, but that is when I found Her."

"Her?" Iron Man asked.

"A baby Metroid that hatched in front of my eyes. I was about to kill it, but something came over me, I couldn't destroy it for some reason I try to decipher to this day. It followed me out, must have thought me as its mother or something. I took it back to the labs for analysis, and I thought that the end of the whole saga. Then Ridley struck again. He stole the baby Metroid. I got there just in time to see Ridley take off with it," Samus paused. 

The scene replayed itself in her mind. Ridley's piercing red eyes boring into her as he clutched the tiny Metroid in his clawed hands. She felt a rush of anger and sorrow as she cried out firing at Ridley. He laughed at her as he flew away_. _Samus crumpled on the station floor, cursing to herself, a lone tear trailing down her cheek. _Why did I feel that way then? I had never felt that weak before, not till the return to Zebes.._

"I then pursued Ridley back to planet Zebes," Samus started again. "I found out that Mother Brain had formed a stronger bond with the Metroids than before, namely my hatchling," Samus paused again. She blinked back a tear. "I watched the Metroid hatchling die trying to save me from Mother Brain. I can't recall all that happened afterwards. I just remember the anger and rage that I felt as I blasted Mother Brain to ashes. I thought I had finally seen the end of the Mother Brain, of the Metroids." 

"Now Ultron is controlling them," Iron Man finished for her. 

"We've got to stop him," Samus said, the edge hard in her voice. 

"Agreed, and if I'm not mistaken, the Ultron tracker here still works," Iron Man said keying in the commands, and the red square appeared on the holographic map in front of them. Iron Man stared mutely at the red square.

"What is it Stark?" Samus said getting up. "You look worried," she added with a grin. She looked towards the red square, and her own face paled. She stepped back a bit shaking her head. _No. Not there._

"Samus?" Iron Man asked. She didn't respond, she just stood there, staring. Tony Stark looked over his shoulder back towards the holoprojector. The red square that highlighted a planet that looked fairly ordinary floating in the vast reaches of space. He looked at the label below it. The planet Zebes. 

"So we're going to Zebes," Iron Man said to himself.

** *

A bright flash illuminated the view screen as the crash of thunder rumbled across the slate gray sky. Rain poured heavily down and the ship rocked violently among the thunderclaps even under Samus's steady control. A sudden jolt sent Iron Man forward into his seat restraints. His helmeted face looked towards Samus, who held onto the controls of her ship tightly yet smoothly. The bounty hunter's face was shrouded in her helmet. The rain poured harder and a streak of lightning flashed across the view screen.

"Zebes seems like the perfect vacation spot," Iron Man said dryly. 

"Shut it, Iron Man!" Samus snapped. 

"Sorry," Iron Man said. Another jolt rocked the ship, and the viewport glowed red. "That was not lightning," Iron Man said.

"There!" Samus pointed. Iron Man got up as the ship rumbled again. The ground below them flew by rapidly. Iron Man saw a missile flying quickly towards the ship. Samus evaded the missile easily.

"That wasn't here the last time," Samus said. 

"Most likely Ultron's doing," Iron Man said. "Uh-oh." A volley of laser blasts opened up below them. Samus swore as she pulled up, some of the blasts hitting the bottom of the ship. Iron Man saw a short tower with two cannons mounted on it as the source of the blasts. 

"We won't be able to land with those batteries shooting at us," Samus said with a growl. 

"Leave that to me," Iron Man said as he walked towards the hatch. It opened to the pouring rain streaming through the hatch. 

"What do you think you're going?" Samus asked.

"To take out those turrets."

"You're nuts," Samus said.

"Maybe. But I'm also maneuverable enough to avoid those laser blasts. I'll just clear a landing space for you to land, okay?" 

Samus just nodded. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Iron Man said as he flew through the hatch. 

The gray clouds above him poured rain and lightning flashed among them. Thunder rumbled in Iron Man's ears as he flew towards the source of the laser blasts. He looked towards Samus' ship and saw that she was keeping her distance from the area. _Well, Stark, here we go.._

Iron Man flew forward and saw a volley of laser fire coming his away. He dodged the volley effortlessly in a tight roll. He saw the first turret and blasted it full on with repulser blasts. It blew up into a firey blaze among the gloom. Another volley came his way. He flew upwards to avoid it, and pivoted downwards, spreading the fire of his repulser blasts towards two different turrets. Two explosions rocked the scene. _Much too easy._

Iron Man was knocked back as he felt a laser blast hit his left side. He grunted as he regained his bearings. His eyes went wide as two missiles flew in his direction. He fired a repulser blast at one, detonating it, and flew aside as the other one almost scrapped the side of his armor. The missile flew forward a ways, and then made a wide arc back towards Iron Man with a volley of laser fire accompanying it. _Just a bit too overconfident there, Stark._

He kicked in his boot jets, propelling him backward into a tight valley. The mountains rose tall on either side and space was quickly running out. A few aerial maneuvers allowed him to dodge the laser fire and he fired a full volley of blasts at the missile, knocking it into one of the canyon walls. 

Iron Man flew back through the entrance to the valley and saw more of the turrets. He blasted them before they could get their shots off, but he was pushed to the ground by a blast from behind. He hit the ground with a thud and grunted as he got up. He stood up, shaking his head from the blast, and stood there for a while in the pouring rain, taking in his surroundings. Trees surrounded him and a few destroyed turrets could be seen still smoking under the slate gray sky. In the distance, a large metallic structure stood. A tall, foreboding tower that slanted back against the gray backdrop dominated his view. Lightning illuminated the tower from behind.

__

Nice touch Iron Man thought to himself. A noise, a high pitched screeching sound from behind him caused him to turn around, repulser blasts at the ready. Iron Man braced himself as he saw a Metroid floating there in front of him, the bulb glowing red and green, the teeth flexing as if in hunger. It flew towards him, and he fired at it. The Metroid ignored the blasts and was about to attach itself to Iron Man when it stopped in mid air, frozen.

Iron Man jumped out of the way as five missiles hit the Metroid, destroying it. Iron Man looked back and saw Samus standing there, gun arm hung over her shoulder. 

"You superhero types really need to learn how to watch your back," she said. 

"Thanks," Iron Man said. 

"No, thank you. You allowed my ship to land," Samus said, extending her hand to him. Iron Man took it and grasped it firmly. 

"Always glad to be of service, Miss Aran," Iron Man said. 

"Right," Samus said, smiling under her helmet. "Shall we," she indicated towards the towering structure. 

"Of course," Iron Man said. He looked back to where the Metroid was. _My repulsers didn't seem to harm it. I'll have to find a way to where I don't have to rely on Samus to take care of them._

** *

__

They come. I feel them coming.

"Yes, they come." _The mechanical voice sounds distraught. _"They will be destroyed."

__

Do not fail.

"I won't"

** *

The metallic door opened before the two warriors, each with their weapons ready. Darkness lay before them. Thunder rumbled outside and the rain continued to pour in a wall of water outside. 

"What is this place?" Iron Man asked.

"A colony ship that crash landed here many years ago. I found it on my last trip here. It wasn't infested with Metroids, but Mother Brain's lackeys were here, so be on guard." _I hope it isn't infested_ Samus thought with a shudder.

The two walked through the darkness, the sound of the thunder rumbling behind them, then silence. The sound of their footsteps echoed as on the hard metallic floor as they moved forward through the dimly lit corridor. Another door opened with a hiss in front of them, the corridor behind it brightly lit. Samus's guard stiffened. A cylindrical service droid walked stiffly down the corridor.

"A service droid," Samus said. 

"No other signs of activity," Iron Man said, continuing to stare at the service droid. The droid walked around, and then started walking into a wall repeatedly. Samus and Iron Man continued to walk forward. The droid turned towards them, and Samus continued to walk past it. Iron Man eyed it wearily. It turned towards Samus.

"Samus, watch out!" Iron Man yelled as the droid fired a plasma blast at Samus. She quickly rolled into a tight ball as the plasma blast flew over her. Iron Man unloaded a volley of repulser fire at the droid, blasting it into a pile fop scrap metal. "Ultron's work definitely."

"Let's go," Samus hissed, unrolling herself. Iron Man nodded. The two walked through the next door, this room completely dark. Both Iron Man and Samus tensed in ready positions. Iron Man jumped slightly as the door closed behind him with a hiss. Samus walked slowly ahead of him, her gun scanning the room. Iron Man looked up and saw a familiar pair of red eyes appear in the darkness. 

"Rematch," Iron Man said to himself as he fired in the direction of the eyes. A screech was emitted as the room lit up and Ridley flew towards Iron Man. Iron Man flew out of the way and Ridley flew passed him, almost on purpose, Iron Man thought.

"Look Kraid," Ridley said in his hissing voice. "They came back for more."

A loud roar filled the room as the hulking form of Kraid walked in. Samus trained her gun on the reptilian hulk. 

"Can't get enough of us kicking your asses, can you?" Samus asked. 

"I'll let that slide Samus Aran," Ridley said, perching on some scaffolding. "As much as we would love to rip your heads off of your pathetic bodies, the boss won't let us. He won't let us have fun, right Kraid." Kraid let out another deafening roar. 

"Fun?" Iron Man asked.

"He has a special plan for you," Ridley said with a toothy sneer. "Come, Kraid, let us not ruin the surprise." Ridley flew up, and breathed a stream of fire that punched a hole through the ceiling. Samus fired at him as he flew through it. Kraid bashed through a wall, lumbering away.

"Come back here an fight you cowards!" Samus yelled.

"Samus, over there," Iron Man said. She looked towards a pair of large doors that now opened silently into darkness. "Ultron is there," he indicated the tracker that glowed a fierce red on his armor. 

"Let's go then," Samus said. "And see what this surprise is."

They walked in the room, and the door closed behind them. _This is getting repetitive_ Samus thought. A single beam of light turning on in front of them brought back her guard. A large hulking form walked through the shadows, and entered the beam of light.

"Ultron," Iron Man hissed. The metal form in front of the laughed, a grating mechanical laugh. 

"This ends now, adamantium ass," Samus said. 

"You're right, Samus Aran, Iron Man. It ends here," Ultron said. "I have some special friends of yours, Samus. They will be quite happy to reunite with you."

"Wha.. what?" Samus said, nervousness welling up inside of her. She licked her dry lips. 

"Like that tin can we wasted before, Ultron," Iron Man said. "That barely put up a fight." Ultron laughed. 

"That pathetic piece of a _robot_ was merely a diversion. It had no chance against one of you, let alone both."

"How did you come across the Metroids then?" Iron Man asked. 

"I see that Samus has indeed informed you of my new pets," Ultron said. 

"Pets!?" Samus yelled. "They are dangerous! You sick sadistic bastard!"

"That I am, Samus Aran," Ultron said. Some lights in front of the room came on; illuminating a row of fluid filled glass containers. Each one had a Metroid floating in it. 

Iron Man's breath caught at that. _There are so many of them_. Samus looked around, her eyes wide at the sight of them. 

"How.. how did so many survive?" She asked in a hushed voice. Her gun arm was still trained on Ultron.

"Shortly after my war with the Avengers in Slorenia," Ultron said, looking straight at Iron Man. "I was weakened, and my body shut down for repairs in one of my labs. It was not till only a year ago that I finally reawakened, only to find myself in a lab full of humans. I killed them all of course."

"Which is why I was sent after you in the first place," Samus hissed.

"Really? Only that? I did much worse, Samus," Ultron said. "After I reawakened, I found a being in a very weakened state, and with many of these remarkable creatures," Ultron said, motioning his hand to the rows of Metroids. "Not really organic, more machine. Cold, heartless, a thirst for energy, perfect organisms really. 

"I agreed to help Her, the one that held so many of the little gems so that I could mold the Metroids into an army capable of destroying all organic life." He paused. "Maybe even including Her. But she still has too much control over them still. I father them, nurture them, so that they will wrest free of her control."

__

She!? Samus thought with a shudder. _It can't be._

"Well, Ulty, I'm afraid that we're going to have to take you down again," Iron Man said. 

"Not today, Iron Man. Today I win," Ultron said as he broke the glass of some of the nearby containers, the Metroids flying towards Samus and Iron Man with a series of screeches. 

"Iron Man!" Samus yelled. "Take out Ultron, I'll take out the Metroids."

"There are too many of them, Samus!" Iron Man said as Samus blasted one before her. They surrounded her, and she ducked and rolled out from under them, getting up quickly, freezing them with her ice beam. 

"You can't hurt them," she said. "I'll be fine, trust me!"

"Right," Iron Man said. _Don't remind me._ He looked towards Ultron and flew after him. Ultron turned towards him and fired at Iron Man. The shot hit the armored Avenger square in the chest, knocking him back. Iron Man regained himself and stood up.

"Give it up Iron Man," Ultron said. "You have nothing that could harm me." 

__

Maybe not Iron Man thought looking behind Ultron. A container with a large Metroid sat behind him. _Samus said that they could suck life energy from living things. I wonder…_

Ultron fired again at Iron Man, who easily dodged the blast this time. He looked back towards Samus as she destroyed a Metroid behind her, turning quickly to face the next one. 

"Nice try, Ulty," Iron Man said as he fired a full volley of repulser blasts into Ultron. He staggered back and crashed into the container behind him. The glass shattered in a thousand sparkling shards, landing onto the ground in a brilliant shower. The Metroid floated above him.

"Is that all you've got Iron Man?" Ultron said with a laugh as he hit the ground. He lifted his metallic arm up, ready to blast Iron Man, then with a screech; the Metroid latched itself to Ultron's head. "Aaagghhh!" Ultron screamed, clutching at the big bulbous shape attached to him. Ultron struggled as his energy drained from him into the creature. The Metroid swelled with energy and after a while, Ultron lay still, and the Metroid got off of him. Iron Man tensed and the Metroid flew off into the shadows. Iron Man breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Ultron's still form. The menacing red eyes of the adamantium robot were silenced. 

"Bingo," Iron Man said. "I guess the Metroid didn't like daddy Ultron very much." 

A scream from his side alerted him. He looked towards the source and saw a Metroid engulfing Samus.

"Samus!" Iron Man yelled as he fired everything that he had at the Metroid on her. To his surprise, it let go. All the remaining Metroids around her hovered, emitting low screeching sounds. They all glowed red and green in the dim lighting. With a loud screech, they all flew into the shadows. Iron Man ran to Samus. She was breathing heavily.

__

They are here! Darkness eternal, grant me the power I need. Come my children!

"Where did they go?" the bounty hunter breathed. 

"Into the shadows," Iron Man said puzzled. Samus struggled to get up, but the legs of her armor gave out. Iron Man extended his hand to help her up. She stared at it for a while, and grasped it. 

"Thank you," Samus said as Iron Man helped her up. 

"Your armor's energy supplies are low," Iron Man said. "I can reroute some of me power to your armor."

"Leave me," She said. "Get out of here. There are too many Metroids around."

"Samus, that's crazy!" Iron Man said. "You'll die."

"Maybe, but I've faced worse odds and come out okay."

"I won't let you do this. I can give you enough power for both of us to get out of here."

Samus looked like she was about to counter, but shut up. Her cheeks glowed red under her helmet. 

"Thank you, Iron Man," she said. "I owe you one." 

"Don't worry about it." He hooked up a cable between his arm and Samus' arm. He pressed a few buttons, and a gauge showed the power being routed between the two armors. A loud roar then filled the room. "Kraid?" Iron Man asked.

"I don't think so," Samus said. Iron Man looked down to the console. _Five minutes to completely reroute the power_._ Not enough time._

Both Iron Man and Samus looked towards the shadows. Samus was breathing hard, sweat beading down her face. "Please don't, please don't let it be Her," she muttered under her breath. The roar came again, and a large hulking figure came through the shadows.

It reached the ceiling of the room, walking on large stalky legs. Large, clawed arms reached down, grasping at air. The body was colored yellow with a purplish underbelly. Iron Man looked up at the head of the beast. It was a round head, the crimson pulsating brain exposed. Two large eyes gazed down at them as the thing walked forward towards them. The mouth, filled with rows of dagger like teeth, drooled on the ground. 

A cluster of Metroids hung around her. 

"What is it?" Iron Man asked.

"Mother Brain," Samus said in a hushed voice.

Well, this ends the exciting Chapter 3 of Suits of Iron! The exciting climax will be up shortly!


	4. Ch. 4- Shadows and Dust

Suits of Iron ****

Suits of Iron

Chapter 4: Shadows and Dust

Iron Man's eyes still tracked the large, hulking form in front of him. Its pulsating brain now starting to emit a faint red light in the dark room. It bellowed out another cry and looked towards him and the still weakened Samus. The eyes penetrated into him and he shuddered beneath his armor. Samus had called it Mother Brain, but all that Iron Man, aka Tony Stark knew was that it wasn't here on a social call. 

He looked down at the console on his arm and the power cable that fed power to Samus' suit. _Three minutes_ Iron Man thought. _Still too much time. _

"This is not good, tin head," Samus said as if reading his thoughts. 

"How are you feeling?" Iron Man asked as he looked up from the console. Mother Brain bellowed again, and the Metroids surrounding her let out their screeching sounds and floated around her. 

"Not enough power to fight effectively," Samus said. "How much time?"

"Two and a half minutes," Iron Man said. "Maybe we can distract her," he indicated towards Mother Brain. 

"We can try," Samus said with not much enthusiasm. Mother Brain walked passed Ultron's now still form, sucked dry by a Metroid, and turned her complete attention back towards Samus and Iron Man.

"Hunger," Mother Brain hissed. "Energy. You have interfered for the last time, bounty hunter!"

"Bingo," Samus said dryly. "Distraction granted."

"Gotta love supervillians sometimes," Iron Man said. "They like to talk." Samus smiled underneath her helmet. 

"You can't win," Mother Brain continued. "Three times you thought to have destroyed my children, but three times they have persevered," she let out another roar. "Now I will feast upon your energy and the energy of your friend."

"Since when did I get involved in this?" Iron Man asked with a sarcastic sigh. Samus just glared at him. Iron Man looked at his console. _One minute. Keep talking._

"Then why bring Ultron in to do your dirty work then if I'm who you wanted, Mother Brain?" Samus asked. 

"Ultron was a convenient grunt for me while I was recovering," Mother Brain bellowed. "Something to be discarded when I was done with him!"

"Shall we tell her that Ultron said the same thing," Iron Man whispered to Samus.

"What, and ruin her ego trip?" Samus smirked. 

"You're right, this is much more entertaining."

"Thought so. How much time?" A small green light shone on Iron Man's console, indicating that the transfer was done. "Perfect timing," Samus said with a grin. Iron Man disconnected the cable.

"Enough talk!" Mother Brain bellowed. "I have long awaited for the sweet taste of your energy, Samus Aran! I will now claim my prize!" Mother Brain reared her head back and shot forward a long blast of energy straight towards the two armored heroes. Each of them jumped to the side of the blast and hit the floor with a thud.

Iron Man rolled, and shot of a repulser blast straight at Mother Brain, hitting her body harmlessly. 

"Great," Iron Man said sarcastically. Mother Brain bellowed again and the Metroids pulsed forward. Another bellow from Mother Brain sent the Metroids scattering back into the shadows. _At least she called back the cavalry._

"Any ideas Iron Man?" Samus asked, pelting Mother Brain with plasma blasts. They hit with the same effect of Iron Man's repulsers. _Okay Stark, time to use that brain of yours_ he thought to himself. 

"I may be able to reroute the power from my flight systems to my weapons array, but it will leave me pretty drained and I can only guarantee one shot."

"That'll have to do," Samus said, still firing. "How long will that take?"

"Just a few minutes, can you keep the Queen Bitch distracted for a while?"

"Just watch me, Stark," Samus said. "I have something that can leave quite a mark," she said as she switched her weapon array from plasma beams. 

"Go for it!" Iron Man said as he ran back into a corner and got to work. 

***

"Hey, Mother Brain, got a present for ya!" Samus yelled as she let loose a volley of large missiles that hit Mother Brain square in the chest, large explosions lighting up the room. _She's tougher than I remember_ Samus thought.

"Insolent whelp!" Mother Brain bellowed as she launched forward a jet of plasma fire straight towards Samus. The bounty hunter gracefully jumped and rolled out of the way into a crouch. She fired off another volley of super missiles, this time to Mother Brain's pulsating cranium. They hit square on the target and Mother Brain reeled back with a screech.

Samus fired again, but nothing happened. She looked at her gun arm and swore. She was out of super missiles and Mother Brain was still standing. Samus switched to the plasma beam and watched as Mother Brain walked forward, the pulsating brain glowing a bright myriad of color in the shadows. Samus fired off a stream of plasma shots at Mother Brain. Her hulking form still continued forward, shrugging off the beams. 

_Blast it Stark, what's taking so long?_

Mother Brain stood in front of Samus, drooling on the ground, the brain still glowing. Samus' eyes went wide as she realized what Mother Brain was doing. Mother Brain let out a bellow. 

"It ends now Samus," Mother Brain yelled. Samus stood her ground, sweat beading down her face. She glanced at her power gauge, grimacing when she saw that it was in red. Her teeth clenched, she put her other hand on her gun arm, and kept it level at Mother Brain. Looking back towards Mother Brain, she steeled herself and stood tall. Every second, every heartbeat dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. A flood of memories cam back to her, of the last time she fought Mother Brain. The same glowing brain and the wave of energy that nearly destroyed her, and did destroy the hatchling. 

"It ends all right, Mother Brain," Samus said between clenched teeth. "Once and for all." Mother Brain bellowed and reared back, ready to attack. Samus tensed, and a blast of energy struck Mother Brain square in the face, knocking her to the ground. A large shriek arose from the staggering giant. 

Samus caught her breath and looked over her shoulder. Iron Man stood there, gauntlet blasters pointed forward and still smoking from the blast. His red and gold armor was charred and smeared. She smiled.

"Miss me?" Iron Man asked.

"Perfect timing, shell-head," Samus said. 

"Anytime," Iron Man said. "Shall we go look over our kill?"

"Yes," Samus said with ice in her voice. "I want to make sure she's dead this time."

Samus walked forward with Iron Man walking stiffly behind her. They walked up to the large reptilian body. It rose up and down slowly with breathing. Samus walked towards the bulbous head of Mother Brain. Drool drained out from around clenched, needle like teeth. The brain pulsated slowly, and an eye slowly opened. Samus lowered her gun arm towards Mother Brain's face.

"Samus," Mother Brain said weakly. _My children, I have lost. I have failed you._

"Just thought you'd like to see your undertaker," the bounty hunter said as she plugged every missile that she had into the big bulbous head. One bellow of pain and the body was still. Iron Man walked up behind her. "It ends today," Samus said in a whisper. 

"Samus?" Iron Man asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, Iron Man," Samus said with a slight edge, and he removed it slowly. The two stood there in silence, watching the huge body that was once Mother Brain. A screeching from the shadows broke silence. Iron Man and Samus walked backwards from the body as they saw the swarm of Metroids come out and hover around the body.

Iron Man and Samus tensed wordlessly, readying what weapons each of them still had online, and silently waited their end. But the Metroids ignored the two armored heroes, and instead hovered almost mournfully around their Mother's body. Low screeching came out from the Metroids.

"We should go," Samus said. 

"What about the Metroids?" Iron Man asked. "Aren't they dangerous?"

"Not any more, Stark," she said. "Not anymore." The two walked away from the body, back towards Samus' ship on the surface of Planet Zebes.

Epilogue:

Tony Stark stirred on his small bed in his ruffled bedclothes. Despite not having any sleep through his previous ordeals, the best he could manage was a restless half sleep. Images of Ultron, of Metroids, the Mother Brain and Samus darted through his head. _Samus _he thought. He saw an image of her in his head. Deep brown eyes and flowing brown hair streaming down her back. _No! She's not ever from your own time! What are you thinking Stark!_

The hiss of a door opening jarred him out of his thoughts and he opened his eyes suddenly. Samus Aran stood there in a red jumpsuit. Tony Stark looked around the tight cabin to get his bearings. It was a small, cramped cabin on Samus' ship. His own red and gold Iron Man armor stood in a corner.

"Samus," Iron Man said, squinting in even the dim lighting of the cabin. "What is it?"

"You told me to wake you when we reached Earth."

"We're there already!?" Stark exclaimed getting up. He stroked his chin and ran a hand through his messy hair. 

"You were asleep for quite a while, Tony," Samus said.

"Don't you ever sleep?" He asked.

"Occasionally," she said with her typical grin. "Come on, I have some food waiting for you on the bridge."

"Sounds good," Stark said, listening to his growling stomach. 

He followed Samus to her bridge, and looked out of the large viewscreen. In its center was the bright sphere of the planet Earth, but not the way that Tony Stark knew it. Space stations and freighters formed a ring around the planet. 

"Earth's a busy place now," Iron Man said as he took a seat next to Samus. _It is so different, I can't believe it!_

"Much different that your boring Earth, isn't it?" Samus asked with a grin.

"Not much, deep down it still looks the same," Stark said. "No matter how many times I've seen it from space, it still awes me. Don't you ever miss being away from it?" 

"Me? No. I never grew up there, so it's always just been another planet to me."

"Where did you grow up?" Stark asked.

"Long story," Samus said with a chuckle.

"There seem to be a lot of those," Stark said with a laugh. He and Samus both looked out of the viewscreen and stared at the planet for a few minutes, then Samus turned towards Stark.

"Ready?"

"Huh?" Stark asked. "Oh! About going back. Sure."

"Well then, let me say first off that it has been a pleasure serving with you Iron Man," Samus said. "Best of luck to you and take care," Samus extended her hand towards him.

"Likewise Samus, take care of yourself and try to stay out of trouble," Iron Man said, shaking her hand and the two of them laughed. 

Samus brushed her hand over the black time travel device and the ship lurched forward through space and time once again.

* **

Iron Man walked forward in his armor through the towering factories and buildings of Stark Enterprises. He checked his armor. All the smear marks and grime were wiped off and the armor gleamed as if new. Plus it was up to full power again, which always made Tony Stark smile. 

"Tony!" Pepper yelled as she ran up to him. "What happened?" Iron Man looked back over his shoulder and saw Samus' ship fly off, just a small flash of light on the horizon. _Take care Samus. Maybe we can see each other again._

"Nothing, false alarm," Iron Man said, not wanting to explain everything there. _Maybe later._ "The intruder just left after I got here."

"Left? That's weird."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Iron Man said as the two walked back towards his office.

** *

Samus reclined in her seat, watching the vast emptiness of space float by. _I can't believe that they survived all of that. All of what I did to them. But now Mother Brain _is _dead. I can be sure of that. But I was sure of that before as well. Twice._

She looked to where her armor stood in the corner when a beeping sound startled her. She looked towards the control panel and the intercom light was blinking. She flipped on the switch.

"Samus!" Gyllin's frail form appeared on the screen.

"Gyllin," Samus said. "What's up?"

"Are you done with my toy yet?" He asked in his raspy voice.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm done with it. We took care of Ultron."

"We? So you did bring back Tony Stark!" Gyllin started jumping up and down excitedly. "Why didn't you bring him by?"

"Hate to break this to you Gyllin, but I didn't bring back Stark," she lied.

"Then who _did_ you bring back?"

"Iron Man," Samus said.

"Oh," Gyllin said a bit disappointed. 

"Don't worry, I'm sure Stark is a pill anyway," Samus grinned to herself. "Why so anxious to get the time travel device back?"

"I want to use it. I just saw this excellent movie, _Back to the Future,_ have heard of it?"

"Do I even want to now?" Samus asked in a bored tone.

"Probably not," Gyllin said with a smile. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to your skulking or whatever it was you were doing."

"Thanks," Samus said dryly. "I'll get you the time travel device shortly."

"Okay, Gyllin out." The screen went black and Samus sighed. Her eyes drifted to the viewscreen and the brilliant nebula that filled it. _What does it all mean? Why do we fight? What difference does it make? In the end we are all just shadows and dust._ She looked back to her own red and gold armor. She smiled. _Who knows, Tony Stark, we may yet meet again. Two people whose destinies are tied together by a suit of iron. _

Well, here ends Suits of Iron! I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any comments/questions, feel free to ask! 

__

  



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